I just don't think we as STP fans should take this personally or look too deeply into it. It has almost nothing to do with the quality of the music and everything to do with:
1. The state of popular music - Let's face it: Rock music started dying in popularity in the mid 90s, and by the late 90s, it had taken a back seat to pop, hip-hop, and country, where it still remains to this day. Maybe there will be another wave (like grunge) to boost rock back into the forefront of popular music, but I'm not holding my breath.
2. The demise of the record industry in the digital age - Albums sell less and less all the time, and will continue to do so. And as album sales decline, so does their importance. By the time the numbers do bottom out, album sales will be a very small part of the musicians' revenues, and they may just decide to give the music away and make their money elsewhere. We don't see it day to day because it's gradual and the record companies are fighting for their lives to hide it, but the truth is: we are STILL in the middle of a major sea change in the music world. For the first time, people are deciding not to buy albums anymore. Plus, it's become a lot easier to create music. And it's become a lot easier for consumers to get information about the musicians they like. In 1993, I learned about STP from their Plush video on MTV after sifting through hours of Snoop Dogg and Mariah Carey. The way I read about STP was if I was lucky enough to find an article about them in a rock or guitar magazine. There was no STP web site, because there was no internet. There was AOL 2.0 on a 14.4K modem (and AOL hadn't integrated the internet yet). I ordered Core from BMG mail service and had to wait six weeks for the fucker to come in! Today, we get pissed off when the full album doesn't leak until a week before its actual release date, so we can download it within minutes, put it on our iPods, and listen to it anywhere. That's a big difference! And that was less than 20 years ago. 20 more years from now, the record industry won't be recognizable. The whole concept of paying money for an album of music is transforming from the standard into a tradition that's been grandfathered in for the older generations of the buying public. Eventually, it will transform further into something a few people do for nostalgia. We are becoming so overly saturated with music, that there's becoming less of a need to pay for it.
It's just not that important anymore. A band like STP can make way more money playing shows. It's great that they had some big hits back when record sales mattered, because they can continue to make money off that success by playing those hits for fans at their shows. But [despite Cinnamon] I don't think STP's focus is to gain tons of new fans. They made an album that they wanted to make while still pleasing their fanbase. It's not designed to be a big seller, because it's not what people are buying. They know that. They are career musicians, and very successful ones at that.
